A Change Of Plans
by ConsumedByTheShadows
Summary: As Naruto was taking his second ninja exam he felt off. After his migraine passed someone else was living his life. Follow the new Naruto as he tries to become stronger to protect himself, and anyone he makes friends with along the way. Featuring: Smarter!OC!Naruto. Unsure if there will be pairings.
1. Chapter 1: A New Beginning

Chapter 1: A New Beginning

Disclaimer: I own nothing from Naruto.

-There's going to be plenty of swearing.

 _-"Someone is thinking."_

In the village Hidden in the Leaves there was a boy who was about to take his final exam to be a ninja. Just as he was going to try to perform the bunshin no jutsu he suddenly began to have a migraine. The young boy stumbled slightly and dropped his pose before regaining his balance. The two teachers who were judging his performance merely glared at him. The first teacher voiced his annoyance. "Any day now brat." The second one only rolled his eyes at the kid while waiting in silence.

Once the kid stopped holding his head in obvious pain he opened his eyes and scanned the room. The surroundings weren't familiar to him, and the two other people standing in front of him weren't jogging any memories either. The second teacher finally had enough of the stalling. He continued on with a bored expression on his face. "Hey Uzumaki. Either try to pass the test or get out and stop wasting our time."

" _Uzumaki? Is he talking to me?"_ I looked around the room to make sure that the man was actually focusing on me before turning back to the irritated proctors. _"Well I have no idea of what to do here."_ The first teacher sighed before speaking again. "Come on Naruto. At least try to perform the bunshin no jutsu before the day is over. You're the last kid to be tested and we want to go home sometime here."

" _The bunshin no jutsu huh? Did they watch too much anime last night? Wait did he just call me Naruto!?"_ I looked down at my clothes and immediately noticed the blindingly orange outfit paired with blue ninja shoes that leave your toes uncovered. Then I quickly reached my hands up to feel the goggles that were settled on my head. _"Well this is problematic. I don't know how to perform any of the jutsus that I need to use right now. The actual Naruto wasn't able to use this technique in the academy, so I doubt that I can do better. I don't even know how to access my chakra."_ Thinking on my feet I noticed that the teachers in front of me weren't Iruka and Mizuki. _"That must mean that this isn't the time that I actually need to graduate. Though it will be embarrassing, I'm going to have to drop out this time."_

"I don't think that I'm ready to pass just yet sensei. My clones still suck." I put on a frown and dropped my shoulders to try and sell my act. The two teachers glanced at each other in slight surprise at the fact that I admitted my weakness, although they already knew that I probably wouldn't pass yet. "Well if you're positive that you can't pass, then I guess we'll enroll you in the same grade level again. Try to make an effort to study for the month that you have off now, ok Naruto? You're going to have to catch up to your peers so that you don't flunk again."

I blushed in embarrassment while rubbing the back of my neck. "I'll do my best sensei! The next time I set foot in my class I'll be one hundred, no a thousand times better! Believe it!" I knew that I was laying it on thick, but I didn't want the teachers to become suspicious of my quiet behavior. _"I can gradually attempt to tone down 'my' enthusiasm. That way I can make it look like I'm just taking my training more seriously and maturing as a result."_

They both nodded at me before sending me out of the testing room. As I entered the classroom attached to it, I saw that it was completely empty. _"Well that basically proves that Naruto really was friendless throughout his childhood."_ It was a sad thought that he didn't connect with anyone in his previous class before the series started. I frowned again as I made my way out of the classroom and stopped to try and pick a path to get out of the academy. I thought that it was odd when I felt an urge that compelled me to start walking off to the right. I let the urge take over and soon found myself right outside the entrance of the school.

" _Well I'll be damned."_ My thoughts were cut off as I looked at the large crowd of people not too far from the door. Children were showing off their new ninja headbands to their proud parents. I tried not to draw too much attention to myself as I casually walked towards them. Unfortunately I'm wearing extremely bright clothing that is coupled with my blonde hair. I'm like a walking light bulb with my brightness.

I grimaced as all of the parents took in my form and not so subtly moved themselves, and their children, away from me. Some looked apprehensive; while others openly glared at me with such hate that I was taken back for a moment. I tried to calmly walk through the path that was opened for me without making too much of a scene. Groups of people began chatting or whispering to each other while staring at my form. I heard a man say, "Well it looks like the brat didn't make it through again." The woman next to him snorted. "Like that idiot could ever pass the test. If he ever becomes a ninja I'll bet it's because he cheated."

I briefly stopped after hearing that blatant slander before keeping my frown and continuing my long walk away from the crowd. _"How the hell do they think that I can't hear them?"_ I began to pick up my pace. Then I heard another person who was talking even louder. "Why does he even try to become a ninja when he's the worst in all of his classes? My son said that he hardly ever turned in his assignments, and when he did they were done half assed. You could hardly read his writing, if you can even call it that. It was hard enough to read the crap that he wrote for each topic, let alone his own name!" Another man answered with, "He shouldn't even be studying with our kids! Who knows if the fox brat might snap one day and…" He trailed off when he realized that he was probably saying too much to the public.

" _God damnit! I shouldn't have to put up with their shit after failing what was obviously an important test for the original Naruto. How did he put up with all of this bullshit on his own?"_ I started to walk even faster in the hopes of escaping the asshole parents of the Hidden Leaf. At least most of the children were too focused on their headbands to be listening to the bullshit that their parents were spouting off. Of the few kids that were actually listening to the gossip, most showed obvious confusion over the subject matter. Only a select few of them understood that they were talking about me, and they didn't look too happy at the people who were speaking.

I, however, didn't see any of that since I was attempting to hold my head up high and look as though I didn't hear anything that they were saying. I felt my expression waver as the insults were piled higher and higher. Relief coursed through my body as I made it out of the clusterfuck of people and instantly jogged away rather than walk. _"To hell with acting casual. There's no fucking way that I'd stay anywhere near those assholes for longer than necessary."_ I slowed to a walk as soon as I was out of sight of the academy.

I was feeling pity for the old Naruto and how he must have lived while also feeling angry and sad for myself. _"It's not like it was Naruto's fault that the attack on the village happened. He's only eleven years old at this point too. He shouldn't have to deal with people's shit all the time."_ I scuffed my right foot along the dirt road as I walked, and kept my head down. I walked for a while as I contemplated my new life before coming to a stop. I looked around in wonder as I took a seat on the fourth Hokage's head. Sitting this high up on the mountain gave me a beautiful view of the village as well as a sense of peace over my situation.

" _I definitely have some of his memories if I came up here when I needed a quiet place to think. Maybe I can access some of them on purpose."_ With that thought in mind, I focused on my question of how I can access my chakra. A few seconds went by before information trickled into my head. I started to have a vague idea of how to accomplish it, and after a minute I got it down. I had to 'search' for my chakra through meditation as I'm not an accomplished ninja that can do that at will just yet. A few minutes later and my breathing became slow and even enough to enter the right state of mind.

The large pool of power consumed all of my senses as I delved deeper into my consciousness. Calming waves of my own chakra gently swirled inside of me. I couldn't see anything, but I could definitely feel what I was initially looking for. I basked in the warm feeling for a while as I studied my chakra pool. With the initial contact reached I slowly dragged myself out of my meditative state. I felt utterly relaxed after that enlightening experience.

My first goal was reached, and for that I was happy. I stayed put on what was my new father's head for a few hours. It was the perfect place for me to be myself and enjoy the silence. By then my stomach was telling me that I should have fed it a long time ago. Sadly I left the peaceful place and instinctively walked towards a familiar looking shop. The scent of something absolutely amazing reached my nose as I steadily walked towards the curtained off area. _"Ichiraku Ramen here I come!"_


	2. Chapter 2: Gaining Knowledge

Chapter 2: Gaining knowledge

 **-"This means that someone is reading something."**

The wonderful smell of ramen filled the area as I neared the humble restaurant. I let myself in and sat at an empty seat. There were a few other customers that were in the process of eating in there, but they didn't seem to mind my presence. Surprisingly most of them gave me small smiles and the occasional wave. I responded to their greetings with a nod and a wave of my own before turning my attention to the two owners of the place.

Teuchi and Ayame were in the process of filling an order so I patiently waited for them to be done. I was soon lost in my thoughts and jumped when Ayame started to talk to me. "Wow Naruto you sure are quiet today. Is something on your mind?" I shrugged and said it was nothing. After that I began the process of picking what I wanted to eat. Thankfully I could read the kanji, no doubt from the memories that are stored away in me.

She frowned at my vague response as she tried to figure out what the problem was. It didn't take long at all for Ayame to remember what day it was. She looked away in sadness when she realized that I didn't have a headband on. "Naruto… I'm sorry that you didn't pass today." Teuchi heard what his daughter said and sighed in sadness as well. He really hoped that the kid would've passed so that he could get closer to his goal.

To make it up to him, Teuchi thought it would be a great idea to give Naruto a treat. "Hey kid, eat as much as you want today. You're going to need it for the amount of training that I know you're going to put yourself through soon. By the time that the month is over I'll bet that you will be in tip top shape." I gave him a genuine smile as I thanked him for his kindness.

A few minutes went by as I waited for my first bowl of miso ramen. I knew that the original Naruto loved it, so I probably would too. I spent the time waiting by looking around the restaurant. It's smaller than what I'm used to, but it gives off a comforting feeling. It kind of reminds me of the cafes that I would sometimes visit with its comforting environment.

Before long a bowl was placed in front of me. I wasted no time by immediately breaking out my chopsticks and digging in. Unlike the old me I didn't scarf down the food like it was going to be my last meal. I knew that I could have as much as I wanted for one, and it was also technically my first time trying it. I found that I loved it, much to my delight. _"It will be a cold day in hell if Naruto ever loses his love of ramen."_

Teuchi and Ayame were somewhat concerned over my recent behavior. I was eating much slower than usual and also talking in a softer voice. They were relieved that I still kept up my appetite despite the sudden changes. I packed away eight bowls before I decided to quit eating. The crazy thing was that I never noticed how much I actually ate until I stopped. " _Ayame must have prepared a new bowl to switch out for my empty one whenever she saw me running low."_

I could only stare in shock at the sheer amount of food that I sucked up like a vacuum. It was amazing how much food I needed in order to get full. I frowned at that thought. _"Where do I get the money to afford the obscene amount of food that I would need to eat on a regular basis? I'm not a ninja yet, and I'm an orphan, so maybe I get an allowance or something."_ A memory came in not long after which confirmed my suspicions.

Apparently the third Hokage gives me an allowance to use for each month. My apartment is also paid for by him until I become a ninja and collect my first paycheck at the mission center. _"Well that's convenient."_ I thanked Ayame and Teuchi again for their generous offer before turning to leave the restaurant. A few minutes later I was walking in the direction of my apartment. I followed the way that I went before in a memory and soon stood in front of my door.

I grabbed the key from my pocket without even thinking about it and unlocked my apartment. As I was walking in I noticed that while there were a few things out of place, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. There were a couple piles of clothing strewn about my floor, but not too much to be concerned about. The kitchen did hold some empty instant ramen packets as I thought, but also not as much as I originally guessed. I was happy to note that my fridge is well stocked in perishable items such as various types of fruits, vegetables, eggs, and milk. _"I'm glad that he wasn't solely living off of that instant crap."_

I grabbed a glass from my cabinet after my initial inspection and filled it with some water. As I sat down at my table I began to think about my next move. _"I have to get a lot of training in if I want to catch up to the rest of the kids in my new class. From what the villagers were saying earlier this hasn't been my first time trying to pass the exam._ _That must mean that this is my third time, which is the last time that I should be taking it. The series starts at the end of my next school year. I'm going to have to learn about the skills that I already possess, while also learning about things that Naruto never made much progress in at first. I can make a training schedule once I get some basic information regarding my current skill level."_

The most logical thing for me to do was to see what I already had available to me. I searched my room and found different sheets of paper and books that held information on many topics. It surprised me at the amount of books that Naruto already had before the series started. _"I guess he did try to get as much information as he could despite his situation."_ The thing that grabbed my attention was a notebook that was seemingly hidden underneath a pile of papers.

I grabbed the innocent looking notebook and flipped it open to the first page. My mouth dropped open at the amount of information that was crammed onto one page. _"This looks like the technique that the old Naruto uses. How could I have forgotten his perverted jutsu?"_ I immediately focused on the many memories that Naruto stored away on the subject.

It felt like several hours had passed as I went through all of his thought processes regarding the oiroke no jutsu, or the sexy technique in English. In reality only thirty minutes were spent on regaining his memories. With all of the information in place I decided to test out a different version of the jutsu. I made the ram seal, but focused on a completely different form. A puff of smoke covered my body and when it left I quickly ran to the bathroom. The boy in the mirror was exactly what I wanted to look like.

I had messy black hair instead of a spiky bright blonde style. There were a few pieces spiking out in the back and it stopped a little bit under my ears. My light blue eyes turned a shade darker and my skin turned a shade lighter. The most prominent features that I decided to lose were the fox whisker marks on my face. I spent the next five minutes just staring at my new form and lightly pulling one of my spikes to see if it was real. I made a fist pump after it stayed and kept the jutsu going as I grabbed 'my' old notebook.

" _It would be a pain in the ass for me later if I forgot to write down exactly what I accomplished."_ With my info written down on the next page I turned back to the massive amount of books and papers to choose from. _"What should I focus on next? I know that Naruto wasn't very familiar with chakra control exercises. I think I'll look for a book on that."_ I skimmed the titles of each book before coming across a promising one.

The book was generically called 'How To Control Your Chakra'.As soon as I read the name I knew that it would be helpful. I flipped open the cover and began to read the basic summary. **"This book will show you how to access and mold your chakra in different ways. You will be able to conserve more chakra and have an easier time when learning techniques once you begin our chakra control exercises."** _"Wow why wasn't Naruto better at ninjutsu if he had this book? Did he just not get to it before the series started, or maybe he didn't put enough time into it."_

I turned to my bed, straightened my covers, and then set the book on top of it. _"I think I'll make a pile of the books and papers that I need to go through first."_ I took the many history texts and set them in a separate pile on the floor. _"I can wait until later to learn about the village's past."_ For now my search was directed towards learning the three basic ninjutsu that I need to pass the next exam. I found it after a while of searching and held the notebook above my head in victory.

I looked down at the notebook again and laughed at my writing. **"Badass Ninja Techniques."** _"Well at least he wrote them down. I'm actually not that surprised that he did since he always boasted that he wanted to learn cool new kinds of jutsu in the anime."_ I figured that the notebook must have been used for school since that's where the first three jutsu are taught. I skimmed the first few pages to make sure that it was what I needed before nodding to myself and setting it on top of the first book.

Another long time of searching for anything useful led me to discover a hidden gem. I pulled the book out of the large pile and looked through the table of contents. The deceptively small book held more difficult chakra exercises than the first book that I found. I let out a whoop of joy and hugged it to my chest. _"This is a book that I'll definitely need to read as soon as possible."_ The book holds the secrets to learning various techniques that include earth, water, and air chakra control exercises. I happily set that book down in my small pile and decided to call it quits for now.

Next I walked to my closet and changed into a clean pair of pants that were hidden in the back of it. Surprisingly they were a dark blue color rather than bright orange. Then I took off my goggles and outer jacket, which left me with my black t-shirt on. With that done, I gathered two of the three needed books and placed them on a nearby end table. I kept the first chakra control book with me. This is because I plan on at least trying one of the exercises today. With my book in hand and my new look still in place, I cracked the door open. When no people met my sight on either side I slipped out of my apartment and headed to a rarely used training ground.


	3. Chapter 3: Training And A Shopping Spree

Chapter 3: Training and a shopping spree

The walk to the fairly unused training ground was relatively peaceful. No one gave me heated glares or looks of surprised disdain as they noticed me. For once I blended into the crowd, and I was grateful for it. The short walk gave me some time to organize my thoughts, and I felt much better as I arrived at the open training area. _"Trees are plentiful here, so that's a good thing. I won't have to travel far to obtain a leaf or two."_

I sat under a nearby tree and opened the chakra control book to the first page. **"Every shinobi must know how to move their chakra to various places throughout their bodies. Without this knowledge a ninja can't perform any type of jutsu. Chakra is an extension of yourself, so you're able to move around this energy with a lot of practice and a determined mind. This lesson has these thoughts in mind as it teaches aspiring shinobi how to mold their chakra at a basic level. The first step that we'll start with is to pick which place to send your chakra to. For this lesson you'll choose one of your hands, as they are the easiest areas to send chakra into. Then take a moment to feel out and guide your chakra through your body and into your hand. This can take from a minute to a half hour on average depending on how attuned you are with the feeling of your chakra."**

I set the book on my lap before mentally feeling out for my chakra. The process was a lot easier than the first time since I already knew what to look for. Once I began focusing on my chakra I mentally told it to start moving up my right arm. It swirled around for a moment and practically zoomed up my arm to reach my hand. I opened my eyes to look at my hand in shock. It's glowing bright blue with the amount of chakra that I'm pumping into it.

I looked at the next couple of sentences in the book to see how I did. **"The exercise that we will be partaking in next will require a certain amount of chakra. Look at your hand to see your progress. Your hand should be faintly glowing after completing this step. If it isn't glowing at all then you need to focus more into your hand, and if it's glowing brightly then you should cut back on the flow as much as you can. Precision is the key to success as a shinobi."**

I mentally thought about slowing my chakra flow and surprisingly received a response in a short amount of time. I looked back at my hand to see it glowing less brightly as the book said I should attempt. _"Keeping my hidden transformation jutsu on is definitely helping me right now. I bet it would be harder to control my chakra if I didn't use a constant stream of it to maintain my disguise."_ I continued to read the next step in the book. **"The next thing that I want you to do is stop consciously supplying chakra into your hand. Then go out and find a small leaf before continuing onto the next step."**

I grabbed a nearby leaf from the ground before sitting back down in my previous position with my legs crossed and the book lying in my lap. **"Try to push the same amount of chakra into your hand as before. Then focus the chakra into the center of your hand. Once you've accomplished that place the leaf in the middle of your hand and try to keep it there with only your chakra. The chakra that you've summoned to your hand should make it stick if you have the right amount. Add too much and it will blast away from you. Add too little and it will float harmlessly off of your hand with the slightest breeze. Take your time to perfect your technique and only go to the next exercise after you have successfully completed this one."**

" _Well I guess it's time to practice this. I don't know how well this will turn out, but I have to try to get better no matter the time that this takes me to complete. Without a better sense of chakra control I won't be able to use any techniques that require a small amount of chakra to use. It's as simple as that."_ I gently placed the leaf into the center of my hand and focused some chakra into it. Unsurprisingly, it flew off my hand the moment I released my chakra.

I huffed before retrieving the leaf and regained my previous position. This time I tried to release a bit less chakra than before. It was hard to gauge how much I released the last time since I haven't had any practice using chakra before today. My efforts were rewarded with the leaf skyrocketing into the distance once again. The only difference was that it landed a few inches closer to me than before. _"Well at least it didn't drift as far this time. I'm slowly getting there."_

An hour passed with me solely practicing the chakra control exercise. I was getting better at the technique each time I tried it, but I didn't master it by the time that I quit. I noticed that it was starting to get late so I grabbed a few leaves and placed them in the book as a way to tell where I was in it. Then I stood up, stretched, and began to walk back to my apartment. I made it back to my place without any mishaps, and proceeded to lock the door behind me.

A whoosh of air left me as I released the hidden transformation technique for the first time. I fully realized just how exhausted I was at constantly using my chakra for a few hours. I tiredly walked to my kitchen table to grab my discarded glass and refilled it at the tap. I quickly downed it before replacing the water once more. Then I placed my full cup back on the table while I grabbed myself a snack.

I enjoyed my second glass of water with a bowl of strawberries, purple grapes, and slightly salted cucumber slices. Once I finished eating I set my dishes in the sink before dragging myself into my bed and passing out on top of the covers. I slept fully through the night and woke up feeling refreshed yet still a little sluggish. Breakfast was a short affair as I made buttered toast, many cut up vegetables, and poured myself a glass of milk. I took a shower after eating and walked to my closet while wearing a towel around my waist.

It was a sad thing to see that there aren't any other pairs of clothing that I could use that isn't his customary outfit. The whole closet was filled with his orange coats and pants along with black t-shirts that he wears underneath. _"It would be great if he didn't have such a memorable color on all of his clothes."_ I grumbled at the fact that I would have to eventually buy different clothes so that I wouldn't stick out in the crowd as much. _"Then I can go out in my hidden transformation form with less of a chance of people finding out that it's me."_

I went through the day practicing the first leaf technique inside with the few leaves that I placed inside my book. There wasn't much else happening aside from that since I hadn't planned on venturing into the outside world. I knew that I still had enough food for the next few days, so there wasn't a valid reason to go outside. I ate my lunch and eventually supper before heading off to bed to get some rest. Although this time I managed to change into some pajamas before sliding under the covers.

Two days later and I was progressively getting better with my chakra control. I worked on the first chakra exercise to the point that I have gotten it down perfectly. Now I can place a leaf on my hand and it won't shoot off into the air. Yesterday I started working on the next exercise that builds off of the first lesson. I'm supposed to attempt to swirl a leaf in a circle while it sits in the center of my hand. It was a little tricky, but I think I mostly got it down. I plan on finishing up my training on that today while starting a new control exercise before the day is over.

An interesting thing to note was that I've been unconsciously integrating Naruto's memories into mine over the past few days. Things like the language and writing came right away, but other things like what the stores in the village sell or how their currency worked came as I woke up each morning. I wasn't too concerned over the fact that I've been receiving his memories more often. So far it's been a very convenient gift to have. Just think about how it would have looked if I couldn't even find my way around the village after eleven years of living in it. People would get suspicious of me fairly quickly if I suddenly didn't have common information that a true citizen of Konoha would know right away.

A less pressing matter is that I have to go and buy more food today for my fridge and pantry. I ate my breakfast before showering and dressing in the same outfit that I went out in a few days before. I had the black shirt and dark blue pants washed seeing as they are the only pair of clothing that won't label me instantly as the 'fox brat' of the Hidden Leaf. The hidden transformation technique was applied as I grabbed the original Naruto's precious Gama-chan. I happily noted that it was bulging with the amount of money that it stored over time. I whistled a cheerful tune as I strolled out into the empty hallway and headed over to the market.

The shopping district was bustling with people and I was never happier to be unnoticed as I looked around. _"The atmosphere is very different when people don't see me as myself. The citizens are much friendlier to everyone that they meet. I guess I really am the village's most hated resident."_ I frowned slightly as I came up to a shop that I recently became familiar with this morning. It's simply called Yuki's Shinobi Attire. My memory told me that it caters to the ninja population with its wide selection of durable clothing and shoes.

I went into the shop and saw that there's a huge sale for ninja academy students as well as the new genin recruits. Any kind of clothing as well as medical tape is fifty percent off until the end of next week. The shoes that they sold there had a different sale of buy one get one half off. It makes sense that they would have a sale right now seeing as it would drum up a lot more business for them. The graduates would inevitably wind up here for their new ninja clothing while any students would come here for the sale since they are constantly growing anyways. I politely smiled at the cashier as I walked by him before turning to look at the large array of items.

I scanned the large store and made my way to a nearby shirt rack. The prices ranged roughly from 400 to 800 ryo. "Excuse me sir. Is the sale price already attached to the clothing or is it discounted from the price shown?" The clerk looked at me before smiling and saying, "What you see on the tags are the original prices. The sale price is half off of what you see on the tag." I thanked him before returning to peruse the rack again.

" _I see that most of the prices roughly averaged between forty to eighty American dollars before the sale. This is actually a great deal for buying ninja clothing."_ I went from rack to rack and picked up quite a large amount of shirts. I asked the cashier if I there was a dressing room I could use and found myself trying on the large amount of clothing soon after. When I finished with that I was allowed to place the clothing that I wanted to buy at the counter before looking through the shop for other items.

When I left the store I was carrying several bags and a slightly less full Gama-chan _. "It's amazing how much money he had before I arrived. I wonder if he bought lottery tickets every week or two and hit it big. That would explain how often he had a full wallet in the anime."_ I made my way back home and once I got inside I immediately placed my clothing in piles so that I could sort out what I got.

The damage done to my wallet equaled out to ten shirts, three jackets, two hoodies, and ten pairs of pants for clothing. Other than that I got some medical tape for training later as well as two different pairs of shoes. I made sure to buy the clothes in a size bigger than I needed so I could grow into them rather than grow out of them right away. It was amazing how much the discount saved me, but what's even more amazing is that I have a shit ton of ryo in my wallet still. I shrugged at the anomaly as I grabbed my new clothing and put the first load into the wash. I really wanted to show off my new clothes even if they're only going to be seen on my disguise.

I realized shortly after I sorted through my new clothes that I never bought the groceries which I so desperately needed. " _There isn't much else in the fridge aside from a gallon of milk, and the cupboard is basically empty at this point._ _I guess I'll be eating my first instant cup of ramen later tonight. Well, more like four or five minimum..."_


	4. Chapter 4: Treats And Techniques

Chapter 4: Treats and techniques

 **Author Note:** For Reasons Unknown is played by The Killers.

A whole week has gone by since I've suddenly found myself living as the famous Naruto Uzumaki. I've been training every day since my arrival with a focus on chakra control so that I could eventually attempt to use the three academy level jutsu at the finals. My progress was going surprisingly fast, and for that I was ecstatic. I thought that it would've taken a lot longer to even get as far as I have right now.

So far I've gotten the leaf sticking exercise, the leaf spinning exercise, and the multiple leaves sticking exercise to work for me. The control exercise that I'm currently working on is where I need to place a leaf in the middle of my hand and also on each fingertip. Then I focus my chakra so that it will swirl clockwise and spin each leaf without making them shoot off of my hand. It's been kind of a pain in the ass for me to attempt, but I'm not going to quit because of a little speed bump. I know that these exercises will be good practice for when I try to create a rasengan in the future.

Other than training I've been exploring the village and trying to regain as many memories as I possibly can. Knowledge is power in my world, and even more so in this world full of ninjas. With the right set of information a person can wield great power, and even come out on top in a hopeless situation. For this reason I find myself lightly jogging throughout the village on the lesser known paths in order to get a better sense of the layout. An added bonus is that it'll keep me in shape since I'll need to run a lot in the near future.

As I made my way back to my apartment I decided to head over to a different restaurant rather than Ichiraku. I spotted a dango restaurant soon after my search for some food and decided to grab a bite to eat in there. The shop looked quite busy with most of the tables occupied, but there was still room for me to sit at an almost empty table after I ordered. The only occupant happened to be a purple haired lady who looked to be enjoying her dumplings immensely. I excused my presence at her table to which she only waved me off with a "Yeah, yeah. It's fine kid." She continued to dig in to her large amount of food without paying me much attention.

I stared at nothing in particular as I awaited my order. It felt like a long time had passed in the time it took to gain my food because of the silence in the shop. In reality only a couple minutes went by before three sticks of hanami dango were placed in front of me. I tentatively picked up the stick that pierced the green, white, and pink treats and held it up to my nose. Then I briefly sniffed them before taking a small bite out of the dango on top. A sweet taste filled my mouth from the green colored treat. I quickly took another much larger bite and proceeded to finish the small snack. The next two pieces of dango were practically inhaled at the speed I was eating them which resulted in an amused laugh coming from the woman across from me.

I looked over at the now laughing woman to see that she put a huge dent in the meal that she bought. "Slow down kid. The food's not going to run away from you." I made an effort to slow down on the next three pieces, but probably not enough considering the muffled laughter of my neighbor. "I take it this is your first time here then?" I nodded instead of answering vocally so that I could continue eating. "Well I'll probably be seeing you around often if you're enjoying them this much." She stood up and began walking away at a leisurely pace. "See ya kiddo." I waved goodbye before focusing back on finishing my food.

A thought came into my head about how she was wasting the large amount of food that she still had left. I glanced where her plate was to see that it was completely empty save for a few small crumbs. _"And she told me to eat slower."_ I smirked at that thought as I finished off the dango on my third stick. I took my plate over to a worker along with my neighbor's before leaving the restaurant. Another thought came to me about how the lady looked familiar, but I wasn't paying much attention to her features at the time. _"Oh well. I'll probably see her soon since she implied that she eats there a lot."_

I went back to mapping out the roads of Konoha for a short time before heading towards my apartment again. I canceled my transformation jutsu as I sat on my bed and decided on what else I should do today. The rest of the day consisted of practicing the multiple leaves spinning exercise, eating my supper, and skimming through a few chapters of a random history book out of my book pile. Then I took a shower, put on my pajamas, and passed out shortly after.

During the next week I tried to switch it up a bit. I thought that since I have a better understanding of chakra I could attempt to use a simple jutsu. An obvious choice would be to try an academy level one, so I chose to perform the kawarimi no jutsu. _"The body replacement technique should be fairly simple to use compared to a D ranking jutsu or above."_ I grabbed my notebook that 'I' used in school and flipped it open. It didn't take too much time to find the information on it since the original Naruto only wrote down notes pertaining to jutsu.

Plenty of techniques were written down with no information to describe what they did. _"His teachers might have talked about random techniques in passing. I'll try to look them up at a later time."_ Eventually I found the three techniques that I would need in order to pass the final exam. The writing was messy, but the wording looked to be from either a textbook or written during a lecture at the academy. **"The kawarimi no jutsu is an E-rank ninjutsu that all academy students need to learn before graduating. When you pull it off you essentially replace your body with another object or person of your choice. You can place explosive tags onto the replaced object to surprise your opponent or use it to escape from your enemy if you're captured. The hand seals are tiger, then boar, ox, dog, and then snake. If you don't use the correct amount of chakra then you will have slightly different results. If you use too little chakra nothing will happen. If you use too much then you'll waste a lot of chakra, and you might emit a faint glow, but you'll still end up with nothing happening. Practice the technique to get a feel of how much chakra you'll need to use it."**

Under the description of the body replacement technique another jutsu was hastily scrawled. Naruto underlined, capitalized all of the letters, and circled it many times. **"SHUNSHIN NO JUTSU"** My eyes widened as I read the name of the technique. _"I didn't know that Naruto knew about this technique, let alone the name of it. Well at least he reminded me to specifically look this one up later. I always thought that it was a useful technique to learn."_ I sat the notebook back on my bed and got up to grab my tissue box.

I placed the tissue box about five feet away from me on the floor and practiced the hand seals. Once I thought that I got a feel for it I readied my stance and chakra. _"Tiger, boar, ox, dog, snake."_ As I created the last hand sign I focused on switching with the box. I felt a burst of energy around me, but I was standing in the same place as before. _"Damn it. This is just like the first time I tried using chakra."_ I looked down and saw a blue light glowing around my body. " _Yep. It's exactly like before."_ I huffed in slight irritation, but continued on without pausing.

I worked solely on that technique for the rest of the morning and into the afternoon before getting it down. I switched with the tissue box before using the jutsu again to switch back. _"Well I'm not that surprised to get it done this quickly. Naruto had a limited timeframe to get the shadow clone jutsu down perfectly before being caught. It was pretty impressive even if the only reason he was able to use that jutsu was because he had a huge amount of chakra at his disposal."_ After my second major accomplishment I immediately began to think up a sort of celebration for myself.

It didn't take too long to come up with a good idea. Ten minutes later found me walking down a street while quietly singing 'For Reasons Unknown' under my breath. I was in a good mood and I had to show it somehow. Soon I found myself walking into the dango shop that I've quickly grown to like. I ordered five sticks this time now that I know just how delicious the sweets are. After I ordered I looked for an empty table only to spot a familiar looking woman sitting at the same table as the last time I saw her.

I waved at her in greeting before sitting down across from her once more. "Hey, do you mind if I sit with you again?" She looked up at me and shrugged. "Sure kiddo. I don't mind." She finished chewing her food before setting her stick down on her plate and looking at me. "So what's your name kid? If we're gonna keep meeting like this I'm sure you don't want to be called boyo or some other shitty nickname."

"My name's Haru, but I don't care if you call me something else. As long as it's not insulting like dumbfuck or some other shit then I'm fine." She let out a loud laugh at that. "I think I like you kiddo. The name's Anko, and don't forget it." She bit off a large chunk of dango before continuing. "So what's up? I just got done with a job and came here for a snack."

"I'm on my break from school so I haven't been doing much but trying to catch up before it starts up again. I just finished successfully using the kawarimi no jutsu and came here to celebrate." I smiled at my small accomplishment before taking a bite of my white dumpling. She smirked at my admission before speaking again. "So you're an academy brat huh? That doesn't surprise me all that much."

I only raised my eyebrow and replied with, "And why is that?" She let out a small laugh and said, "Well it's kind of obvious. Most of the civilian brats go everywhere with their parents, and even if they don't, they act like the immature little hellions that they are. You behave like a mini adult and travel around alone from what I've seen so far." I tilted my head in thought before nodding in affirmation. "That sounds about right." Anko smirked again and stood up from our table.

"Well I'm heading out for now. I practically live here, so you know where to find me." She gave a one handed salute as she walked away from me. A puff of smoke surrounded her once she stepped outside, and I saw that she left after the smoke cleared. _"I really need to learn that jutsu."_ I tucked back into my food and finished the first three sticks. Then I took both of our plates to the counter and bagged up the last two so I could save them for later.


	5. Chapter 5: Kidnapping?

Chapter 5: Kidnapping?

 **Disclaimer:** Same as before.

Meeting up with Anko became a sort of routine for me after our introduction. I came into the shop a few more times that week to find her at the same table as always. The only differences from the first two times are that I go to sit with her right away and I don't bother asking her if she minds it anymore. We would also chat while eating our food and she actually started to stay after she finished off hers so we could talk some more.

We probably made an odd sight with the two of us speaking as if we were good friends and all. I know that she didn't usually spend so much time with kids, well before now. She definitely didn't act like she tolerated them during the Chunnin Exams… Anyways, we were sitting at our table like usual when she brought up a different topic than she normally did. "So Haru-chan how has your training gone so far? Have you learned anything to kick some ass at school yet?"

"If you're talking about battle techniques or jutsu, then not really. I can only learn so much until I get my headband that shows that I'm a fully fledged ninja. Then I can rifle through the scrolls and books in the library. Until then I'm stuck with going through the books that I already have at my place. It would be easier if I had my parents to teach me things, but they've been out of the picture for as long as I can remember." She nodded at that while looking off to the side.

"Well that settles it kiddo. Finish your food. Better yet, let's bag it up to save for later. I think it's time for me to help you out a little bit." She marched up to the counter to bag our food and took out a scroll at the table. A few seconds later and the food disappeared into the scroll with a small puff of smoke. As soon as she tucked the scroll away I was hauled onto her back in a single movement. I jokingly yelled, "Stranger danger!" as she walked out of the shop with me and jumped up onto a rooftop.

I snickered at the looks that the civilians were giving us as she took off, and outright laughed at the grumbling I heard from Anko because of it. She hopped from rooftop to rooftop in silence until we came upon a heavily wooded area. The training grounds are spread throughout the village, and are always far enough away so that people can't cause that much damage if they overdo their training sessions. She landed in front of the trees before jumping onto a branch and continued on at an even higher speed than before. At last she pushed off a branch and landed in an empty training ground.

She stopped in the middle so I could finally let go of her shoulders and landed as well. "Now show me what ya know kiddo." I complied by first performing the kawarimi no jutsu and traded places with a log. Then I switched with it again before canceling my hidden transformation jutsu in the same instant. With the brief bit of smoke I used the henge no jutsu to look like Anko. I just hoped that I was fast enough for her to not see my actual face. Then I cancelled the henge and went back to looking like Haru right as the puff of smoke appeared again.

"That's pretty good Haru. So how far are you on the bunshin no jutsu? I'm pretty sure that you need to know that one for the finals." I grimaced at her question, but continued on and made the seals. _"Ram, Snake, Tiger."_ My chakra followed through as usual, and like always I overloaded the technique. Three clones were lying on the ground when I finished, and boy do they look exhausted. They were all passed out on the ground and twitching every so often.

She stared at me for a moment before saying, "Wow I've never seen someone suck so badly on this easy ass technique before. How exactly are you overloading it that much?" I sulked at her comment and canceled the failed jutsu. "Well it's not my fault that I have so much chakra… I've been trying to master chakra control exercises so that I could use it. So far it's helped me to get the other two jutsu down, but this one uses even less chakra to perform than the others."

"So your issue is that you have a lot of chakra. Well I say that the more jutsu you can use in one sitting the better! It sure beats having a small chakra core. Yeah it's easier to perform different jutsu so long as the technique doesn't cost a lot of chakra. But there's the problem of having chakra exhaustion a lot sooner than other people."

"Thanks for the pep talk Anko, but how is this helping me to use the technique?" She rolled her eyes at my remark. "You're a snarky little brat today. My point, Haru, is that you could learn techniques that other kids your age couldn't because of your huge amount of chakra. A lot of techniques are too dangerous for even veteran shinobi since there's the risk of extreme chakra exhaustion."

"That's good and all, except that there isn't a way to learn any useful jutsu with my current rank. I can't find any information concerning them unless someone decides to teach me." She smirked at me while pointing her thumb at herself. "Are you implying what I think you are?" Her smirk turned into a smile as she said, "Yeah kid. I think I can handle teaching you a thing or two."

In an instant I was hugging her. "Thank you so much! You have no idea what having a teacher means to me." She slowly returned the hug and said, "Hey, don't thank me just yet. I haven't even taught you anything." I eventually pulled away from her and grinned.

"So do you want to teach me something since we're already at a training area?" She agreed with a loud, "Duh. What do you think I was going to do? Drop you off and then ditch your ass?"

"Maybe. If you felt like it I guess." As I looked down I felt Anko's hand on my head. "Listen Haru. I'll never abandon any of my students. So how about we get started, okay?" I had a small smile on my face as I went through my first training session with my new mentor.

She started off by making me practice various hand signs. A while after that she told me to use the kawarimi no jutsu until she said to stop. I was continually using it for around ten minutes before she told me to quit that too. "Wow you aren't showing signs of chakra exhaustion after that long? That's great! I'm sure you'll be a force to be reckoned with once you learn more jutsu."

"That's the plan sensei." I briefly rubbed the back of my neck before she spoke up once again. "Well I think we're just about done with your training for the day. We can meet up at the dango shop three days from now so I can come up with my first training schedule. Let's say around noon. Then things should get a lot more interesting around here." I blanched at the evil look that she sported once she finished speaking.

"I have a feeling that I'm not going to like your idea of training." She laughed at that and dropped the disturbing expression. In the next moment I was being hauled onto her back, and she took off into the trees again. Soon I was dropped off in front of the dango shop and let down from her back. As she began walking away she abruptly stopped and turned around. An object was tossed towards me that I recognized once I caught.

"Thanks for remembering to give my dango back Anko." "No problem kiddo, and don't forget our next session. Three days from now at noon." She jumped up onto a rooftop instead of using the shunshin no jutsu this time, and ran off into the distance. Once she was out of my sight I took out one of my remaining dumpling sticks to snack on, and started to make my way back home.

I dropped my hidden transformation jutsu after I shut my door, threw away my stick, and placed the rest of my dango on the counter. For the rest of the afternoon I was curled up in my bed with a book that I recently bought. 'The Tale of The Utterly Gutsy Shinobi' was a lucky find indeed. I stumbled upon it a few days ago when I went into a small bookstore that I've passed a few times. It was actually pretty good so I read a few chapters before I got up to go and get some supper.

" _It has been a little too long since I last ate at Ichiraku hasn't it? Actually I haven't really gone out as myself in a while either. I hope I haven't worried Teuchi and Ayame too much with my absence. Although I don't really want to face the villagers again I'm going to have to sometime. It might as well be right now."_ I changed into my orange outfit, grabbed Gama-chan, and slowly made my way to the front door.

As I was walking to the restaurant the usual suspicious glares were thrown my way. It was unnerving how quiet the market could get when I walk through it. Thankfully there weren't any hecklers around, but the silence wasn't really much of an upgrade. It still drove home that I wasn't exactly welcome in the village. I made it to the ramen restaurant without any mishaps and sat down heavily in a chair.

Ayame spotted me fairly quickly and hurried over to stand in front of my seat. "Naruto! It's been a while since we last saw you. What have you been up to?" I grinned at her and said, "Nothing much Ayame. I've been trying out different chakra control exercises so that I can use the clone jutsu eventually. I think I got down the other two jutsu pretty well at least."

"That's great Naruto! I'm sure that you'll pass for sure this year." She prepared a dish of ramen and placed it in front of me. "This bowl is on the house, but don't think that you can skive out on paying for the rest of your meal, okay?" I thanked her and started in on my bowl of miso ramen.

Midway into my second bowl I heard someone sit down in the seat to the right of me. I didn't bother to check who it was until an arm snaked its way around my shoulders. I looked up with a few noodles still hanging out of my mouth to see a familiar face. It was silent for a moment as I went through what I could have possibly slipped up on. "Fancy meeting you here kiddo. Surprised to see me so soon?"


	6. Chapter 6: The Not So Secret Identity

Chapter 6: The not so secret identity

"I'm sorry Miss, but-" I was cut off midsentence by Anko. "Don't you fucking 'Miss' me brat. I know that you recognize me, so don't bother screwing around." She turned to Ayame and said her order before focusing back on me. "Look kid, I've given you enough shit for now. Let's just eat dinner. But after we finish our meal we're going to have a serious talk."

I nervously agreed, and continued to eat six more bowls in silence. As I ate I often glanced over at her to guess at what she could be thinking, but her expression was blank. _"She must be pretty pissed off at me right now. I don't doubt that she's rethinking her offer to train me since she probably knows who I am."_ It was twenty minutes before we both ate our fill and paid Teuchi and Ayame.

As I turned to start explaining myself Anko placed her hand over my mouth to shush me. "No, not here. We're gonna take this chat somewhere less public." She stood up and motioned for me to follow her. I hesitated for a moment before conceding and began to walk towards her outside of the restaurant. The looks of hostility didn't waver from the villagers' eyes even when they saw the kunoichi that's traveling with me. Once I saw that I unconsciously stopped a bit closer than I would have originally, but it didn't look like Anko noticed the slight change.

"So where do you think we should take this little talk of ours then? Oh, how about we go to the training grounds that you brought me to before. It's light out so we still have a bit of time." She agreed and told me to hop on her back once again. Her reasons were that it would take less time to get there, and it would be harder to spot us together.

I quickly hopped on and she immediately leaped onto the nearest rooftop. Minutes later we arrived at the same training ground as before. Once she let me down we stared at each other for a minute to gather our thoughts. It seemed like she was still thinking of what to say, so I decided to start our inevitable conversation. "What exactly did you want to talk to me about then?"

"We've met before, but you don't look the same. I've eaten with you, traded stories with you, and celebrated with you. There was never any reason to doubt that you were who you said you were until today. What I want is to hear you say the name you gave when we first introduced ourselves."

"I can do that, but only if you tell me something first. What were we going to be doing in three days?" A look of understanding crossed her face as she answered. "In three days we were going to meet at the dango shop around noon, and then I was going to train you here as your new sensei." A pleased look crossed my face at the correct answer.

"So you really are Anko. I guess I can tell you now that I'm sure you aren't a fake." I made the ram seal and transformed into Haru with a grin on my face. "Hey Anko. I'm Haru, but you already know that now don't you?"

Her eyes widened slightly as she took in my features. I looked exactly like Haru aside from the clothing. She walked up to me and lightly tugged on a strand of my hair. "How are you doing this? This isn't a regular henge. I've seen you use the normal one, and it didn't do that. This form is fucking real!"

I smiled at her last sentence while I felt proud of my work. "For your information I made this jutsu myself. My first use for it was to surprise people into submission, but let's get back to this form. I made 'Haru' to look entirely different except for my height and weight. And yes, I made this jutsu so that my transformations are solid. The reason I've been walking around as Haru more than as Naruto was so that I could live in this village and feel safe around its citizens for once in my damn life."

This conversation is just reminding me of just how hated and alone I really am in this world. It's true that I've been feeling even less comfortable around the villagers lately. Almost a week ago while I slept I gained a particularly bad memory. It was October tenth, which was the anniversary of the day the Kyuubi attacked the village, and also my eighth birthday. I never left my apartment any later than nine at night on the tenth until then. It was a mistake that I'll always regret even though I haven't physically lived through it myself.

Let's just say that it involved a few drunk villagers and a blackout on my part. I don't even know how I made it home, but I woke up in my bed with bloody bandages over both of my arms. By the time that I was conscious my wounds had mostly healed, but the terror of what happened still stuck with me. So, yeah, I'm not feeling all that great about my current rank as an academy student. I could at least protect myself if I was taught a couple jutsu every now and then before graduating. My transformations are all that I have going for me right now though.

I was brought back to the present by Anko's voice. "I see that you feel strongly about using this jutsu specifically. Don't worry Naruto. I won't tell anyone about your transformation jutsu's capabilities. In fact we can use it as an advantage if we play our cards right." She put both of her hands on my shoulders in her excitement and continued.

"I could train you as Haru so no one else would know what you're learning aside from the two of us! That way the higher ups don't try to interfere with your training. We could meet up whenever we felt like as long as you keep your jutsu active. It's basically what we've been doing already, but with me in the know that you're actually Naruto." I brightened up considerably at her words. "That sounds like a plan. But I have to ask… How did you know that I'm Haru?"

She smirked at me and said, "I was staking out your apartment to see if your background story held up. Now I know that you weren't lying when you told me about yourself at least." My right eye twitched a little as I processed that. "So you were stalking me then?! That's just creepy… And exactly how long were you watching me to come to that conclusion?"

She put her right pointer finger to her cheek as if in thought. "Well I'd say for about three days now. It was pretty easy to follow you back home earlier in the week, and then later watch the entrance to see if anyone goes in or comes out for a few days. I wasn't actually staying close to your place all day, but I checked it out at different times to see if anything was different. I was lucky to see you leave your home when I did, considering that I was about to book it out of there myself."

"That's creepy as fuck, Anko. Please tell me you'll stop that now." She laughed and replied, "Sure kiddo. My stalking days are over now that I got my info." I gave a sigh of relief at her admission, which just made her laugh even harder once she saw it.

"So… Now that we have that all straightened out are we still meeting up on the same day?" She nodded and said, "Yup. Same time and place as before. Then we can get in some good old fashioned teaching in. You better prepare for anything kiddo, because I know my shit when it comes to training."

"I don't doubt that sensei. I'll have to up my game before we meet again so I won't be too horrible." With our conversation basically done we both left the training grounds. Anko dropped me off at my apartment rather than at the dango shop since she knew where it was. We said our goodbyes and Anko used the shunshin no jutsu to go home right after.

I spent the rest of the night reading another chapter from Jiraiya's book, practicing the chakra exercises that I already know, and taking a shower before heading off to bed. I got up bright and early the next day so that I could focus on learning a new skill. Throwing a shuriken or a kunai accurately is a necessary skill in a ninja's line of work. I was hoping to get a solid lesson through a memory or two, so I sat down on my bed and began to focus on that topic. In a few seconds I was looking through them, and continued to do so for the next ten minutes. Unfortunately there wasn't much to go through since I never had much one on one help from any of my teachers.

I huffed in irritation, and focused on the few memories that showed my teacher telling us how to hold them first. Then I skipped over to when they taught us how to throw them. _"I guess I'll have to try it out for myself and see how closely my movements resemble theirs."_ I got up to walk over to where my weapon pouch was stored, and attached it to my upper left leg. _"Well here goes nothing."_

I transformed into Haru, pocketed Gama-chan, and grabbed my black backpack before I headed out to my usual deserted training area. The weather is perfect for practicing with a kunai for the first time. The sun is shining, the temperature isn't too hot, and a gentle breeze is blowing through the area. I set my backpack down a bit behind me, and then took out my first kunai. _"It's time to see if I'm any good at throwing one of these."_


	7. Chapter 7: Learning The Basics

Chapter 7: Learning the basics

I tried to hold the kunai like the memory showed in my right hand, and aimed at the center of a large tree that was about ten feet away. I let the kunai fly the short distance and heard the satisfying sound of it lodging itself inside the tree. The metallic weapon didn't make it to the center like I was hoping, but I wasn't complaining. A hit was a hit after all. I slid my left hand into my weapons pouch and grabbed my next kunai.

I took the same stance again and tried to adjust my aim a little more to the left. The second kunai was flung and once again I saw it dig into the bark. _"It looks like I threw it too far to the left this time."_ I grabbed my third kunai and adjusted my position once again. The final kunai that I brought was thrown and landed to the left of the center, but a bit closer to the middle than the others.

I smiled at the small accomplishment, and walked the short distance to retrieve my kunai. This process went on for another twenty minutes before I decided to back up another three feet from the tree. _"I know that I'm getting better at this, but I feel like Anko would laugh at my less than perfect throwing skills. We're probably supposed to have at least a basic grasp of the skill in our last year in the academy. I have no clue how good the other ninjas-in-training are in my grade level, but they should be pretty proficient at throwing kunai by now."_

I began throwing the kunai from my slightly further position for about an hour before I took a break. I gathered them up again, put them in my pouch, and plopped down next to my backpack. Two containers and a water canteen were taken out of the largest pocket before I zipped it back up again. I enjoyed my cold water with a large portion of cherry tomatoes, fresh green beans, and a white rice ball on the side for my main snack. Then I took out two sticks of hanami dango from the second container and munched on those for my dessert.

The containers were stored away into my backpack before I stood up to stretch. Then I went back to my solo training with a satisfied stomach. I got an idea when I was eating, so I began to test it out instead of immediately going back to basic throwing. I stood about ten feet away from the tree again, gathered my chakra, and then quickly released it. The kawarimi no jutsu was activated and I hurled my kunai at the trunk right as I appeared on the opposite side of the tree.

The results weren't amazing per se, but I at least hit the right side of the trunk in my haste to get a shot in. I smiled as I thought of the many possibilities that this jutsu could have. _"An even better jutsu to learn would be the shunshin no jutsu though. I could travel a lot farther with it, and not have to worry about exhausting my chakra from using it. Maybe I could get Anko to teach me something useful like that after a while."_

I incorporated the kawarimi no jutsu into my weapon training from then on, and continued practicing for another hour. At this point I was starting to get exhausted from using two jutsu continuously for so long, so I pocketed my kunai and walked towards my backpack again. I picked it up and slowly began to make my way towards the food district with it safely on my back. Business in the area is booming, and I realized why once I saw that it was a little after one o'clock in the afternoon. I started to look around when I noticed a restaurant that caught my attention.

I entered the restaurant named Yakiniku Q and got in the slightly long line to place my order. A few moments later I noticed a worker of the restaurant off to the side. She was glancing over at the seating area, and walked over to our line of people once she saw a group of four get up to leave from a booth. "Is there a group of four or three waiting in line?" What looked to be two different groups raised their hands before looking towards the rest of the line.

The four person group further up the line immediately walked towards the waitress after they noticed each other. A few minutes later the waitress came back over and asked if there was a person or couple that wanted to be seated. I raised my hand and stepped forwards while checking if anyone else was before me, and smiled when there wasn't anyone. Therefore, I was surprised to receive a soft tap on my left shoulder as I made my way over to her. I gave a small jump at the contact and quickly turned around to see a familiar face.

" _Of all the restaurants I could have picked… Well now I remember why this place was vaguely familiar. He was a regular customer here."_ None other than Asuma Sarutobi was standing beside me right now in his uniform. He smiled at me and gave a small wave as a greeting. "Hey there, would you mind if I sit with you? I'm really hungry, and I promise not to bother you too much."

"Sure, I don't mind." We followed the waitress to a low table that had two soft green cushions on the floor for seats. She left our table right after while saying, "I'll let you both look through the menu for a bit, not that you actually need one, right Asuma?" I slowly sank into the comfortable seat and looked up towards Asuma. He let out a soft chuckle and looked to be right at home. Just like the lady said, he wasn't taking a glance at the menu. "So, do you have any recommendations on what to try here? This is my first time coming to this place."

He looked up in surprise at hearing me speak to him before he quickly thought up an answer. "This place has a popular dish that I always get every time I come here. I'll order it for the both of us and you can tell me what you think once you try it. I'll even pay for your meal myself if you don't end up liking it, so don't worry." The waitress walked over to our table right after he finished speaking.

" _He must be pretty confident that I'll like the dish. I guess I'll just go with it then."_ She turned towards Asuma first and said, "So what'll it be today? The usual?" He nodded at that and told her, "Yup, and the kid over there's going to get the same thing as me." She told us that she'd notify the other workers of our order, and left the table once again.

Not long afterwards a male worker came out from the kitchen, placed two cups of water on our table, and set our plates of meat in front of us. I stared uncertainly at the dish once the worker left, and heard a short, barking laugh from the man across from me. "It's not going to bite you kid. Here, let me show you how you're supposed to cook it." I handed him my plate and settled back down in my seat to watch him prepare it on the grill.

Asuma was cooking the meat with such a practiced eye that there wasn't any doubt as to him being a regular here. He knew exactly when to flip the raw meat, and before I knew it the dishes were done. The plate was placed back in front of me again, and I'm still not sure what exactly I'll be eating. _"I've never eaten a dish like this before…"_ I looked over at Asuma, to see him watching me with a small smirk.

He made a 'go on' gesture towards me with his hand and continued to look at me. "Fine. I'll try it, okay? Just stop watching me already." I looked back down at my dish with nervous trepidation. I eventually worked up the nerve to try the mystery meat, and I was pleasantly surprised at the results.

" _It tastes really good, but the texture is kind of weird."_ I continued eating my meal without any problems, which seemed to please Asuma. He focused on eating his own food once he saw that I was enjoying mine. After we both finished off our food we exchanged names before he told me to follow him to the pay area. We walked back towards the entrance of the restaurant and stopped at a desk that one worker was sitting at.

Asuma handed the worker a small slip of paper and handed some ryo to her. I looked over at him and said, "So how much was my meal?" I began to take out Gama-chan as I said that, but he stopped me before I could grab any money. "It's okay Haru. I already payed for it."

"Really? Thanks Asuma." After that we walked out of the restaurant, said our goodbyes, and went our separate ways. I traveled back to my apartment to rest for a while, and continued where I left off in 'The Tale of The Utterly Gutsy Shinobi'. I stopped after I finished the next chapter to continue training. I started by brushing up on my chakra control exercises for a half hour.

That evolved into using my limited living space to practice my jutsu. I randomly switched between using the henge no jutsu, kawarimi no jutsu, hidden transformation jutsu, and even the oiroke no jutsu. I was glad that I could practice my limited repertoire of techniques in my room rather than traveling back to a training ground. _"I think I've been outside for long enough today."_ I eventually tired myself out enough to take a break from training, so I walked over to my bathroom to take a shower.

I relaxed under the soothing hot water, and let it take away any lingering tension from my body. Once the water began to run cold I got out and put on a pair of boxers and pajama pants, but nothing else. _"It's not like I'm leaving my place later tonight anyways."_ Supper was a short affair that consisted of instant ramen packets with a glass of milk. I passed out not long after eating, and that will help me out in the long run. I'm really going to need the extra energy for what I plan on doing tomorrow.


	8. Chapter 8: Training With Anko

Chapter 8: Training with Anko

 **Author Note** **:** Yes, it has been a long time since I've updated this story. I'm truly sorry about the wait everyone. Here's the next chapter. Enjoy :)

-I don't have a beta so all typing errors are my own.

I awoke bright and early the next morning and made my breakfast on autopilot. My morning routine passed fairly quickly. Soon enough I was exiting my apartment with my backpack in tow, and my hidden transformation in place. I walked straight to what I deem as my training ground and set my backpack off to the side. I instantly broke off into a jog, and later into a full out run around the circular training area. I know that endurance and speed are essential if you want to live a long life as a shinobi. Well, a slightly longer one at least.

I kept up my pace for as long as I could before tapering off to a slow walk to catch my breath. I took a large gulp of water from my canteen before continuing onto my next task. Kunai training was up next. I took one in each hand from my pouch before aiming and throwing them both at a nearby tree. They both hit the bark with a resounding thump, and I was happy to pull them out and repeat the process for a good half hour. It gave me the time to practice while catching my breath so I was all for it.

The next step up from that was throwing my kunai while moving around. _"I highly doubt that every enemy I encounter is going to stand in one spot and just take a hit."_ I slowly started to circle around a tree while throwing a kunai at it. My accuracy wasn't as great, but it was progress, and any progress is good right now. _"It's better to look like a fool when no one is watching anyways."_ I slowly progressed up to throwing with both of my hands while walking, and eventually picked up my speed. I had fairly good accuracy while jogging around the marked up tree when I stopped practicing.

It was high time for a lunch break, so I plopped down next to my bag and tucked into my food with gusto. I didn't care that my hard boiled eggs were cold by the time I got to them. They were given a dash of salt and then they were devoured like the rest of my food. _"Huh. Training really makes all food taste better…"_ I relaxed for a few minutes to let my stomach settle before I got back on the training wagon.

The kawarimi jutsu was the first technique to be put to the test. I switched myself with a branch that was at least twenty feet away for a while before going to the next one. The henge technique was applied as I constantly switched from looking like the third Hokage, to Anko, and lastly Asuma. Once I was done I reapplied the hidden transformation technique whilst in a puff of smoke to look like my Haru persona again. _"I can't be too careful at this point. Anko already figured me out as it is. I don't need the whole damn village in on it too."_

My other two jutsu are what I want to keep a secret. With that in mind I started to head back home to practice them there rather than out in the open. I used the hidden transformation jutsu along with the oiroke no jutsu back to back for a half hour before quitting. All that was left was to make sure that I could function correctly the next day, so I ate my supper and got ready to sleep the exhaustion off.

The long day of training was behind me, and I was surprisingly a bit sore after I woke up the next morning. Slight discomfort aside, I ate my breakfast with nervous excitement as I thought about what Anko would use as a training regimen. _"She might take it easy on me since this is my first day, but she might do the exact opposite to test me. You never quite know what to expect with Anko."_ I showered, donned my non-orange clothing and gear, and went out for a light jog before meeting up with Anko at noon.

We exchanged hellos to each other in front of the dumpling shop and made our way over to our training ground. When we stood in the center I silently stared at Anko in expectation. "Okay kid it's time to put you to the test." I held my breath as she started to move her hand… only to rifle around in her clothes for something. I bit back a sigh of impatience, and was quickly rewarded with what looked like a normal piece of paper shoved into my face.

"Take this Naruto. It should definitely help us both out if I'm going to train you." I took it without question as I think that I know what it is. _"So she is serious about training me then…"_ Without further instruction I moved a small amount of my chakra through my right arm and into the paper. Her eyes widened for a second, but she didn't comment on my knowledge concerning the chakra sensing paper. We both watched as the paper was sliced in half and fell to the ground.

A startled intake of breath was all I heard before looking back to her. She seemed to regain her composure by the time I looked up though, and I was honestly disappointed in that. "You have an affinity for wind chakra of all things. It'll be tough to find a teacher for you on that, but I'll see what I can do." She picked up the fallen pieces of paper before turning back to face me. "Now for the real test." She had a wide grin on her face now that made me step back a bit in fear.

And so my first day of training began with a series of odd commands. It started out with Anko telling me to do a handstand and to hold it for as long as she said to. I got into the position without complaint, but I had a hard time keeping still. I started to sway forwards until I eventually fell onto my back with a pained grunt. I immediately went back into the same position and tried to center myself again, only to fall once more a little later. On my third try I felt her arms around my ankles and startled at the sudden contact.

"Relax kid. I'm only keeping you steady." Nothing more was said as I concentrated on staying in the position. After what felt like a long time did she finally let go and tell me to stop. I slowly lowered my legs downward until I landed in a crouch. As I began to stand up I felt a wave of dizziness hit me, but Anko didn't let up as she told me to start running around the edge of the training ground. I hurriedly complied and continued running until she eventually told me to stop. I was gasping for breath at this point and felt like I didn't do very well when I saw the look on her face.

I was surprised when she began to clap and her expression went from blank to a small smirk. "Not bad Haru. Not bad at all. I usually have to persuade the damn brats to keep going, but you don't seem to have that problem." I had to wonder at that. _"Did the Third really try to make her the leader of a trio of genin?"_

Anko let out a laugh at my questioning expression. "Yeah can you believe that? The Hokage actually tried to get me to teach a bunch of whiny little shits last year!" I snorted at that. "I'm guessing that they didn't pass then?" She grinned and replied saying, "Nope. They didn't stand a chance." Her grin turned a bit feral as she began reliving the memories of that day.

I shook my head at that. "I probably don't want to know." She nodded and said, "Oh I think you'll want to. I'll have to tell you tomorrow though. We've already been here for a good hour and a half. That's a good enough amount for your first day." I blanked at that. _"That long already? Damn I had no idea…"_ As we walked back towards the market district my thoughts were only on what her test could have been like. _"If I was expected to continuously run for about an hour on my first day, and I'm not even a genin, then those kids were definitely screwed."_

 **Author Note :** Anko is going to switch between calling him Naruto and Haru in private, but she'll stick with Haru for the most part.

-Naruto is going to look like Haru when he's doing his training sessions with Anko, so he already used his jutsu to appear as Haru before he left his apartment to meet with her.

-I'm going to try to get back into the swing of things with this story. This chapter is a bit shorter than what I'm used to putting out, but it felt like a good place to stop for now. Hope you all like it so far. Thanks for reading my work :)


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